205 Winter Tires on 17x8 rims?

[Breadstickz]

As the Tittle states anyone ever have 205/50/17's winter tires on 17x8 rims? I was on tirerack and noticed that 205's are usually for under 7.5" rims would there be any adverse effects using Xi3 205/50/17's on 17x8 enkei VR5's for the winter other then a slightly stretched tire? Any input would be appreciated gotta get winter tires soon!

[jasonojordan]

Well one adverse effect is it will be pretty stretched like you said. This effects the squareness of the tread block so will create some handling issues. Along with that it will make so you have less impact resistance. I don't know about up there but here in Minnesota we get alot of pot holes in the winter. Snow tires tend to have a pretty good side wall to them in terms of helping to deal with the impact of pot holes. Stretching them will take some of that away. A middle ground would be run a 215 but really a 225 to a 205 you are not really going to notice much of a difference in how they work in the snow. Any advantage you would gain from the narrow tire I feel you lose if you stretch it.

[Tcoat]

Forcing the sidewalls out will make the wheels float on top of deeper snow. You want the tires to cut into it not be forced on top so that the tread doesn't make full contact with the road. Not something I would care to play with personally.